Julian Cassell's DIY Blog

Decorating the exterior of your home is a DIY task that can range considerably in size, depending on your circumstances. You may literally have  a few small details that require painting if you live in a uPVC double-glazed unpainted brick home, or alternatively, re-decoration will be on a much larger scale if your house is rendered with wooden windows, for example. My list below can be applied to all outside decorating, but it is probably of most interest to those people with lots of wood, and lots of walls to paint! read more »

When painting exterior walls, safe access is of paramount importance, so consider hiring fixed scaffolding if you need to work at height. Always use paint that is specified for exterior use – for walls the most commonly used paint is exterior emulsion, which is generally called masonry paint. Most masonry paint is water-based, but for areas of the country that get particularly bad weather, such as exposed seaside areas, you can get an oil-based masonry paint which has greater durability. read more »

Sealing damp stains is essential before applying any paint or wallpaper to your wall surfaces. Patches of damp can appear for a number of reasons – burst or dripping pipes, weeping radiator valves, leaking waste pipes or a broken roof tile are all possibilities. Investigate the cause and get it fixed before dealing with the decorative aspect of the repair. Damp stained areas can only be redecorated successfully if the cause of the damp has been eradicated. read more »

Space solves

Painting exterior masonry

The Guardian, Saturday 12 December 2009

What’s the best way to paint exterior masonry so that it stays white for as long as possible? Do so-called ‘self-cleaning’ paints work? read more »